Communication Skills Part B Modules
Effective communication is a core clinical competency and a major outcome objective of the MD curriculum. Formal communication skills training begins during the basic sciences years and continues throughout the clinical curriculum through supervised patient care, observation of residents and senior physicians, and web-based learning. Health Care Communication (formerly DocCom), developed by Drexel University College of Medicine, is SGUSOM's web-based communication skills curriculum. Following completion of Communication Skills Part A before clinical placement, students continue the course by completing Communication Skills Part B during the clinical years.
Communication Skills Part B consists of the remaining modules and associated quizzes and supports formal communication skills training and assessment during the clinical years. Some modules are assigned as required components of specific clerkships, while the remaining modules may be completed at the student’s own pace before graduation.
Each clinical department has designated the following modules as required components of its clerkship:
| Internal Medicine | Sharing Serious News Advance Care Planning |
| Surgery | Shared Decision-Making Dialog about Unwanted and Tragic Outcomes |
| Psychiatry | Responding to Strong Emotions: Sadness, Anger, FearUnderstanding Difference and Diversity in the Medical Encounter: Communication Across Cultures |
| Pediatrics | Communication in the Pediatric Encounter: Attending to Relationships and Values Communicating with Adolescents |
| Obstetrics and Gynecology | Asking about Sexuality Intimate Partner Violence |
| Family Medicine | Motivating Healthy Diet and Physical Activity Alcohol: Interviewing and Advising |
| Emergency Medicine | Sharing Serious News HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAMS: Diversity and RESPECT |
In addition to the clerkship-specific modules listed above, students must complete all remaining Communication Skills Part B modules before graduation.
A complete list of required Communication Skills modules is included in Appendix K.